Wikiquote is one of a family of wiki-based projects run by the Wikimedia Foundation, running on MediaWiki software. Based on an idea by Daniel Alston and implemented by Brion Vibber, the goal of the project is to produce collaboratively a vast reference of quotations from prominent people, books, films and proverbs, and to give details about them. Though there are many online collections of quotations, Wikiquote is distinguished by being among the few that provide an opportunity for visitors to contribute.[2] Wikiquote pages are cross-linked to articles about the notable personalities on Wikipedia.[3]

Initially, the project was created solely in English. However, in July 2004, additional languages were added.

Multilingual cooperation

In July 2004, about 70 subdomains were set up. As of January 1, 2010, twenty one versions each have more than 1,000 articles. The largest Wikiquote is the English project with over 17,500 articles, followed by Italian, Polish, German, and Portuguese with over 5,000 articles each, and by Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Bulgarian, Bosnian, Slovenian and Turkish with over 2,000 articles each. The French project, which was restarted in December 2006, has 1,899. Fifty-one language versions have 100 or more articles.[4]